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Maria

“For me, there’s no joy in that food.” Lordy, do I relate. Thank you for courageously showing that you’re imperfect with this addiction, and sharing your experience with us. God, grant us the serenity…

Such an encouraging, real and powerful message. Thank you! I’m also a 10+ and know from experience that nothing has “worked” forever. I’ve been doing BLE for about 5 1/2 weeks, and am down about 12 pounds. Very encouraged, but have kind of been waiting for the shoe to drop, waiting for when the “switch” flipped and it all of a sudden didn’t work anymore. You have no idea what an encouragement your message was for me today. The tools are there, but don’t take anything for granted…Thank you!

Dear Susan,
Time and time again I realize how BLESSED i am to have stumbled upon BLE!! But even moreso I am blessed with a “leader” who is SO HUMAN and SO TRANSPARENT who can get down on the floor to the depths of my hopelessness and perceived helplessness and say “I FEEL YA GIRL!”. Thank you from the depths of my soul for being YOU , Susan. So often the founders or leaders of any kind of plan in life seem at times untouchable or way, way up there in the ranks as our “fearless leader” that it almost feels condemning if one makes a mistake. This kind of frankness and honesty is what makes me want to adhere so
Much more closely to the Mother Ship! I am so so grateful for all that you are💜.

Oh Susan! (hug) Now I understand your long silences and then your talk about surrender when I called in on the coaching call on Thanksgiving day trying to work out what to do about spending 4 days at a house party with my food pushing friend and staying on track. How could I have guessed you were going through something similar right then yourself?! Thank you for this beautiful Vlog–you made me cry as I surrendered myself, sitting there watching you. Lots of love, once again for your openness.

I am new to BLE, in my first boot camp after tasting the 14 day challenge. I’m doing well, feeling awesome, and just love what you’ve created here.

I am a professional, a medical doctor who went to med school after being an RN nurse. I’ve been Medical Director of a busy psychiatric emergency service and an academic physician. So I know what it feels like when you’ve created something big and wonderful and it feels like a tiger let out of a cage.

It’s like there’s this fabulous, powerful, brilliant, intuitive grownup inside who makes big things happen. Then there’s the scared and vulnerable little girl who is too sensitive to handle the inevitable critiques that such exposure INEVITABLY brings.

So if I can gently offer the suggestion that you bring your own program of recovery OUTSIDE the bright line community—you might feel safer, cleaner, and more unambivalently supported.

totally agree with that gentle suggestion. as a busy professional in the health sector I know what it is like when you have a lot of people ‘leaning’ on you and looking towards you all the time for support and role modelling. some support for you away from the BLE sphere may be helpful

Well put Susie! Thank you Susan–just finishing my 8 Week Bootcamp which followed the 14 Day Challenge and a wonderful 23 lbs. weight release. However, that is not the main point. Rather, it is something that you, Susan, said in one of your Modules: “Nothing is wasted in God’s economy”–I wrote it down and it is above my work desk and I am daily reminded of the wisdom that you pass to us!! Keep mining for the gold and we have to dig through “shit” to reach the gold.

I will watch this vlog again and again. Susan, your willingness to be authentic and transparent are incredible models for us who are in this and still struggle. I long for the day when I can say that I’ve had abstinence for *years*, so I greatly admire someone like you who has years under their belt. And yet you still have the same challenges that I do when just starting this journey. Thank you, thank you for all that you do, and for all that you are. You rock!

Poor Love-
You are so hard on yourself. I have arthritis & have to stick to the arthritis diet (no sugar, no gluten, no dairy, no soy, no corn or peas, no white potatoes, no nightshade veggies). However, on Thanksgiving/Xmas, I do eat chicken, etc, although I work on being Vegan as much as possible. About 4 weeks ago, I fell on concrete & my left side from hip to foot was so swollen & painful that I couldn’t do exercise or even walk. I needed comfort food-I was even too cranky to see anyone. I have been on WW, Bright line eating & started with JJ Virgin’s eliminating the 7 ‘bad’ foods for long enough that I have faith that I will go back to my food plan when I feel ready. I ate comfort food for three weeks, put on 5 lbs, & now that the swelling & pain are manageable, I am back to my food plan. Sometimes, my body just needs to comfort myself or treat myself. It feels good to know that I am no longer ‘powerless over food’ & can enjoy life. I hope things get better for you., & you can accept that you just needed to eat for comfort or anesthetizing your pain. Thank you for everything.

Speaking truth first to yourself, then the powerful saboteur, and finally, the universe. Never easy, but unfetters one from the pain of isolation, hiding, and the idea that we have yet again failed to achieve perfection. And what a gift you have shared with this tribe. Am sure your old OA friends are glad to have back in their fold as well. Bravo.

SURRENDER, what an amazing solution. It went straight to my soul., and settled like the calm after a Turbulent storm. My life for the past 10 years has been caving into my anxiety and eating , chocolate, chips, etc. anytime I felt emotional turmoil, which was almost daily. So surrender is now going to be my watchword, I have been so wrapped up in my adult children’s life choices, their hurts, their pain and successes, that I’ve used every excuse in the book to just eat, hoping my emotions will calm down. Thank you Susan, you’ve given me a lot to think about.

Love and all good things flowing your way! Thank you for your authenticity. You are an amazing person and I thank you for sharing your struggles with us. It is so helpful to me to receive your messages. As I’ve said before, your blog or email comes to me just when I need it the most. I am eternally grateful for your work, your dedication, your forthrightess, your love.
Peace and blessings,
Sunshine

Susan, thank you so much for this wonderful vlog. I applaud you for being so straight up with us and for seeking help when you need it. It reassures me that you are no different than the rest of the tribe. And you do deserve and need the same kind of support from others that we get from you.

I needed to hear this today. Thank you for making yourself vulnerable. Sometimes when we see others being vulnerable with such grace, it gives us permission to be vulnerable too. And being vulnerable is, maybe, the first step to surrender. Addiction or not, I think we could all benefit from more vulnerability and surrender.

Permission to be human! I don’t know how you’ve managed to be as strong as you have been through these past few years. I am thankful for all you’ve accomplished. If this were a 12 step program I wouldn’t be enjoying the benefits of it. I wouldn’t have felt I needed something that extreme and would still be trying to do this on my own and maybe eventually succeeding, but you have made this easily accessible, from my own home, with a progress rate so much more successful than anything I’ve ever experienced. I’m grateful you took skills you learned and created a plan to make it more user friendly. I hope you know it’s not just the skills from eliminating floor and sugar and eating three meals a day that makes this plan what it is. For me, it was your explanation of the science behind it that attracted my attention. Your infectious encouragement has been motivational. Do you need to be a super hero and perfect to lead this movement? No. I think you’ve more than proven that this program works and that you have an incredible strength and will that we can achieve too. It’s not unreachable, and when stress and fatigue temporarily derail us, as they sometimes do, we’ll recognize the situation for what it is and be able to rezoom, hopefully sooner than later. Bunny slippers – being kind to ourselves, knowing we want to be healthy and happy, and that these skills make it so very, very possible will keep us from staying off course for too long when life events hit us harder than we have the strength to deal with at the moment. With these skills and the accomplishment we’ve achieved with them I imagine we’ll be pretty careful not to slide backwards, and I don’t anticipate any of us completely giving up and letting it all go. Thank you for teaching us what to do when faced with tough times. Thank you for your transparency. Thank you for making it real. Thank you for creating this wonderful program!

You’re super awesome! I’m a 10+ on the scale too. You have told my story and why I must stay connected to 12 step recovery program with clear boundaries around my food. I must have that discipline and structure in place no matter what, or I continue to break. Thanks for your willingness to be so transparent! You are helping many.

Thank you Susan, again, for your honesty. You are a real example for me and I can see where you are coming from. How you can’t be on the inside of something you created because you have to hold the space. I am happy that you found a link outside the system which is helpful for you. Know that the system you have created is a last possible chance for a lot of people to solve unhappiness in their lives with regard to food, weight, health and all the stress that surrounds that. We (Bootcampers) owe you an enormous amount of gratitude for bringing all your experiences into the BLE system, so we only have to follow and learn, which is hard enough, and have this wonderful space that you hold as a support. It is the only way of eating that works for me and that I can sustain long term. I am in the last week of the Bootcamp and have lost 21 Lb. You gave me the space to be Unstoppable, one day at a time. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

The idea of surrender is fearful to many who have addictive personalities, so for me I try and look for acceptance. The bigger issue for me is consistency. It is like admiring and following the process (nice, shiny) then just as suddenly (squirrel!!!!) and it is gone. So I try and keep my humor and get back on the wagon without chastizing myself. Some can follow laid down rules, not so easy for those prone to attention deficit type behavior. The determination is real, just not consistent.

Seeing your visual humanity describing 6 days of “eating” gave me hope, I’m okay. Whenever I can, I will JFTFP and gradually it becomes part of my lifestyle. As a therapist, this sounds more realistic than a “GURU WHO HAS NEVER FALLEN OFF THE WAGON”. I may make a fridge magnet with those 5 letters on it. It includes humor and being able to accept my human failings as they relate to this addiction for me. It is NOT EASY, anything can be difficult for each of us depending how we are affected by events around us.

I like the idea of working on surrendering (to me being more accepting) and letting myself, my inner self, to guide me where I need to go to make me healthier. Within a few days of JFTFP, I feel a difference but each time I notice I’m off the wagon, I’m aware I have JFTFP longer than I did before. It is easier to return to JFTFP.

THANKS FOR YOUR REALISTIC AND HUMAN PERSPECTIVE ON A DIFFICULT PROCESS. (I have no problem if you want to use anything I have written for any purpose.)

Sitting here with tears in my eyes. Thank you for being you and being willing to be vulnerable. I can relate so much to what you are saying. Surrender, sweet and yet not always easy while we are ducking and diving and pretending all is well. Thank you.

What a fantastic video. So heartfelt and so empowering for all of us who struggle day to day. The Bright Line Eating plan for me has been the first time in 50 years that I’ve felt like I’ve had clear concise direction with my eating. Every other time it’s been very very slippery and every other time I’ve reached goal (4) I’ve turned right around and gained it back. I am a little scared only because I’m human but THIS time will be different because all I have to do is stick to my bright lines. The sticking to three meals , sticking to quantities are for me just as crucial as abstaining from sugar and flour. Of course without abstinence from sugar and flour to begin with – all bets are off and the wild horses have taken me down a path I did not want to go. So I for one in the millions out there want to cheer for you Susan and say thank you for following through on your vision. May your ride even out so that you are comfortably steering that team of horses as beautifully as the Clydesdales at Christmas! Enjoy the ride and may you be as blessed as you have blessed others.

Hi Susan thank you for sharing this information and your vulnerability, I signed up for boot camp however I started the fill outs but I can not seem to get started in the actual program, I keep looking for a easier way. I hate the thought of weighing my food WHY I do not know. When we got to me cleaning out my pantries and cupboards I stopped, I worry I will not see my family if I do not continue to cook traditional dinners. I also become obsessed with food what to eat what not to eat and its a constant companion this gremlin called food in my mind when I go on a program. I have tried quite a few diets/programs and have not been able to maintain the weight. I really can relate to your story because my weight started to seriously affect my life when I started a new company in 2004 -stress and more stress was my constant companion until August this year. I really related to “eating to feel numb” which is what I did and still do. I would appreciate any thoughts you might have to get me started.

Dear Leona,
Just get online in your bootcamp house. Post daily, post every time you have a question, post your victories, post your challenges. Get a Mastermind group, get a buddy. You will find a way to do this with everyone’s help. The plan is strong, it is vibrant and you must WORK IT for it to work for you! I get that your life is full to overflowing but like Susan said, you need to find your balance between caring for yourself, caring for your business and others. LOVE YOU! You can do this!

When I did the kitchen clean-out, I cleaned it out to the degree that worked for me, not to any BLE standard. So I kept certain non-BLE ingredients and foods that I use in preparing meals for family, or that visitors use when they’re in my home.

In my case, I welcome weighing because I was already eating really good, fresh food — but I was eating way too much of it. I tried another plan that used the one-plate method but I became very skilled at piling that plate high, high, high. Weighing my food keeps me honest. When I’m at restaurants, often I eyeball it instead of weighing, and I am honest with myself about it (I probably eat less when I eyeball it).

When you get into the Bootcamp and your Facebook house, you’ll be able to “talk” about your resistance, and learn from others how they made peace with similar resistance within themselves. And you can get on a coaching call (it’s included in the Bootcamp) to get individual coaching. You have no idea how supportive and helpful it is.

There’s a money-back guarantee (within the first 30 days, I think) and there’s plenty of time to really use those resources. Finish your first day and click the button to start the boot camp. Give into the boot camp and USE it to its fullest.

I told myself I’d give it six weeks and I’d use all the resources. Here I am more than six months later, a happy Bright Lifer, confident I’ll reach goal weight and stay there.

Congratulations on the re-zoom, Susan! Thank you so much for being candidly honest so others who are struggling see they are not alone, and can have victory too. Refusing to wrap up the struggles in a bow and glitter takes bravery, and brings peace. May the holiday season be one of peace, rest , and simplicity with your bright lines in order. Thanks again for being supportive and real!
With love,
Lisa

So sorry for your loss and pain. It can be lonely at the top. Thank you for sharing your soul with us.
Always remember “you are perfect the way you are”. Let what is just be, JFTFP, mine your gems and everything else will become clear.
Love you, Dianna Morris Blakley

Dear Susan,
I think you are so brave to have gone through all of this and to stay planted and to bring us your message anyway. I understand what you mean about the way this evolved, and as a person who attends a 12 step program, I couldn’t have understood your program without it, but I also need your program for what it is designed to do and I need to hear from you when you are just clearly human. This is so reassuring to me and my recovery and the challenges I’ve had. I appreciate your vulnerability and honesty. Thank you!!!

You made me cry Susan -I am so glad you are back on track. You know you’ll feel better for it. I have not been properly on the bright line eating I have just given up bread and sugar and I have lost 21lb in 5 weeks so it does work.

Susan, We LOVE you so very much! You are so human, we give you permission to be HUMAN too. Your journey is our journey. You have given us so much of yourself, it is time for you to give the same to yourself. You DESERVE to have what we have. PEACE, JOY, LOVE, HAPPINESS, SERENITY. I have had remarkable success on BLE and through 60 days of International travel, have maintained my weight. I too just needed to return HOME to simple weighed food and am in such wonderful surrender right now. Your blog brought tears to my eyes. Tears of feeling your absolute and total surrender. LOVE YOU!!!!

Susan,thank you for sharing the ups and downs of “your” real journey! I love your honesty and feel your pain! Sending you my prayers and positive thoughts as you navigate your way out of this little detour in your life! I believe we are on this earth to become a “better version” of ourselves…but as you note that is rarely a linear path! I’ve come to see that the most important part, the most beautiful part is when we choose to keep trying! God bless us all on the journey!

Thank you for sharing Susan. You are teaching us far more than Bright Line Eating. You have a genuineness and beautiful humility that we can all learn from. Pride has a way of robbing us of personal growth in so many areas, whereas humility is often the first step towards healing. You have earned my respect and admiration and I am thankful to know you, albeit virtually! Thank you for touching the lives of many in such a positive way!

I think you must read my thoughts. I am beginning the 14-day challenge on Saturday. This idea of surrendering my food, what a profound thought. Thanks for that insight. Also the concept of there is no joy in that food. For one who eats to meet emotional needs–which food does not–you’ve given me a great mantra, right up there with NMF.

Dear Susan, I just wish I could hug you and give you some support. My psychologist told me about your book back on May1 and that is the day I claim as the day I started BLE – I was 215 lbs and gaining. My life was (and still is) a mess. I got home, downloaded your book from Audible and ordered the hard copy from Amazon. As I did with Macrobiotics so many years ago. I ate very simply until I could get the hang of what the plan is. I immediately dropped sugar and flour.
I am very ill with chronic late stage Lyme disease and today, I am having one of those “I have to walk from my room to the kitchen to feed my precious little Yorkie who is my 24/7 support system.
You are amazing. Your voice on your book and in your vlogs, etc. has become the voice of wise friend. And, Sweetie, I worry about you. I have come to appreciate and care about you through this process. Every day, I send grateful thoughts your way. I can’t do the plan as you have laid it out due to my disability, but, I do the best I can and for now, I am 172 lbs and losing. I have at least, another 60 lbs to go and with the help of the BLE plan and support, I will get there and stay there.
You are so open, authentic, sincere and vulnerable in your messages. What kept going through my head as I listened to todays vlog is that one of the things you have taught us is about will power.
Consider how much energy you were putting in to planning, packing, preparing, traveling with three young girls, dealing with family members. Not much time for bunny slippers in that process.
You have wiser, more experienced people around you to support you. I am still taking baby steps and have a long way to go. But, one thing I do see / sense is that you are putting your heart and soul into this life changing and life improving program that you conceived and gave birth to. Never forget that you are the soul of this program and you need to take care of you.
I know you travel a great deal. I was a flight attendant many many years ago and about the only thing I still use from all the training is what you see and hear every time you get on a plane. If the masks drop down, put one on your own face before attempting to help someone else.
Susan, dear one, do whatever you need to do to put that mask on your face and breathe in the oxygen you need. I know you see the bigger picture and the goals for more and more to keep the BLE program going and growing.
The Bootcamp modules are in the can, people can sign up and your tech team and support team can keep the boot camps going. I haven’t done the 14 day challenge yet, but I can only imagine that that is also preprogrammed. Point is, let your team to more and you find a way to take a bit of a break. Allow your energy, your will power to recharge.
I know you have heard more times than I have the saying, “This is a marathon, not a sprint.” You have been going full speed for awhile. You need to be there for your family, for yourself and for the BLE program. But, you have to take care of yourself first. I thought the idea of attempting to dip into a Bootcamp and participate anonymously was a great idea, but it is also a message that you so desperately need more support as you, not as the face, the soul of BLE but as Susan Peirce Thompson, the woman, the addict, the person who is still in recovery and still has vulnerabilities.
A priest once talked to me about the concept of the wounded healer. Often the best people to help others is someone who has, as you have said, gotten bloody with their own experiences. You are the epitome of the the wounded healer. I was dealing with the murder of my best friend and not doing it very well. He saw something in me that I didn’t see. Since then, though my condition slows me down, I try to be of service to those who come into my path and need someone to listen, some encouragement to keep going through rough times.
Just keep in mind that you still have those wounds, it is your addictions, your experiences, etc. and you still need to take a break, to put on your bunny slippers, to slow down.
It is from a selfish perspective that I urge you to moderate your activities. I want you to keep going, to keep being there, to keep coming up with creative programs and messages to help us all stay on the plan.
Sending thoughts of gratitude, compassion and support to you and hope you will do whatever it takes to stay strong and stay on your plan. You are an amazing woman and you deserve to take care of yourself first. <3

I just love your message here, Abigail Stewart! I so hope she reads it – I’m certain she will. I know that on the one hand she feels one must never break their bright lines or they 100% will fade away. This is just not true. And, like you, I fee that the number 1 thing you have to keep doing, the brightest line of all, is to take care of yourself. REALLY. She is so amazing and I knew as I started to listen to this vlog, and know deep in my heart, that she will always get back to her bright lines – always as long as she takes care of herself. Which she did. And hopefully will do more of. The worst I ever felt during my BLE experience so far was the first three days. On the second day, I allowed myself to sit down with a small glass of unsweetened almond milk, and quietly drink it, because my stomach hurt so bady. I felt SO much better after that that I knew it had been absolutely the right thing to do – and I didn’t need to do it again. I waited calmly until my next meal and carried on – with full knowledge that I had never broken my bright lines. I had taken care of myself. I don’t call it my fifth bright line, I like to call it my Bright Universe Golden Rule. Above EVERYTHING, I’ll do whatever is best to take care of myself. Because, for now anyway, here on this planet, my self is my universe.

Susan, as a longtime member of your “tribe” now… I could
Not support you more. I am so pleased for you that you were able to determine that the balance of your own support structure was so out of whack and rectify it. Your own personal health is absolutely the #1 priority over your business and the Bright Life community. Don’t ever forget that. If the business needs to ever shift or change to make sure your health remains… so be it. I truly believe your loyal tribe wouldn’t want it any other way. Love you! ❤️

I love you Susan! Thank you for your heart felt honesty! Thank you for your emotion and your show of strength in the midst of trouble. Even if you didn’t feel strong – this VLOG proves what a strong woman you are! Life is going to happen and we are all going to trip and fall at some point. You putting your story out there will help many, many, including myself, when we do trip and fall. It proves that we can get up, dust off, and continue on this path. THANK YOU AND GOD BLESS!

Thank you. This vlog is opening a window for me to escape MY addiction cycle. And I know that you understand what a great gift that is. Truly, this thank you is from the depths, the absolute rock bottom depths of my soul. Thank you.

Thank you for this message. I’ve cried through it hoping to catch your wave of enthusiasm .
I too have been off my lines since the week before Thanksgiving. Finding it hard to get back
on track. Pain and sadness take over and I think the food will help but it doesn’t. It just adds
self doubt and judging to the mix. Today I commit my food .. surrender again and do the best
I can. Thank you Susan for being so real…

“Just do what gives you peace”! Unreal how real you are! I’m not a Bright Liner but I love that you have explained the science behind what my brain is doing and I take away so much from your emails, your Vlog and your book! I can only imagine how challenging things have been for you over the past couple of years…I am so very grateful that you are doing the work that you do because it is such a support to me in my daily living. As an Addict I felt that you were literally telling my story in this Vlog. Such profound honesty and authenticity.

Since my Harbor House Bootcamp, March 2016, I have not missed one of your VLOGs. I wonder every wednesday, “What discoveries did Susan make THIS week?” Then I wonder what discoveries I made myself:) My bright lines have been awesome with no sugar no flour, not as perfect with portions. But I feel great; I’m proud to be a a bright line eater. Thanks for all you do and are. Love to you and the Bright Line Community from a fellow Positive Psychology lover!

Thank so much for this vlog and your honesty! I’ve been struggling with BLE since February and wondered why can’t I just do this program. One thing you said really hit me as a aha moment/wording, “this is a recovery plan and not a diet plan”. I am 10+++ on the scale and I have remember that saying every day because you have to realize you have an addiction problem and you need a recovery plan! Sending hugs to you…one meal at a time!

Oh, Susan, my heart goes out to you. You are one special lady! Thank you for your honesty and for sharing your vulnerability – you are remaining true to your authentic self and I so admire you for that. I too come from experiencing a few stints in a 12 step-programme where I had great recovery for a couple of years each time and worked the programme. I think that’s why I found it easier to ‘surrender’, to ‘accept’ that I have a major problem with food addiction. At the start of this bootcamp, and to my shame, I did briefly question why you would take something freely given and monetize it. However, I just as quickly realised how much more you were putting into this programme i.e. the neuroscience and creating the online community. I am in awe of what you have achieved in such a short space of time (3yrs); that took guts! It’s no wonder that you began to feel overwhelmed by this machine you’ve created to the point where you felt you couldn’t be ‘held’ like the rest of us. At the end of the day, you can… we’re all equal on this journey, regardless of who’s steering the ship. We are all recovering one day at a time. I wish I could give your the biggest hug ever! You so deserve to be nurtured and I’m so pleased that you reached out to your previous fellowship to get that. Thank you for creating BLE because I know within myself I wouldn’t have turned to a 12-Step programme for the help I desperately needed. It was your inspirational and motivational videos that got me here and I’ll be forever thankful to you for that – as my family will too. In the words often written in our online House (Bohemian), You Rock! You’ve got this! We’re here for You! Be gentle with yourself! Give yourself permission to be human! Get those bunny slippers out! Bless you, for all that you are and all that you do. I send this with much love and I hope to meet you one day when I’m living in my right sized body – thanks to you!

Thank so much Susan for this honest vlog! I can’t tell you how perfect the timing was For me. I just started your Boot Camp, had a really difficult first week, continuing to reZoom!!! (What a gift that has been for a recovering perfectionist). I feel like I finally surrendered to doing everything in my power to connect and reach out for support! You are an incredible woman, so brave and strong for sharing your journey with us all! Thank you and we love you!

I have always thought of this “ food problem” as something that was either in remission or out of remission , even before I knew the language of addiction. And in general, with any other medical disease, most people do not feel guilty when they get out of remission, just the ebb and flow of a particular problem. What we have, that is so precious, is a sure fire way to ALWAYS come back into remission. Food addiction is a little more complicated since we cannot totally abstain from eating and the fact that in our culture , this particular addiction has the least cache. But we do have this clear way back. I think it is great modeling for us and very life affirming for you that you are getting the support from the place where you need it. It is very isolating for people who become role models or who people look up to. It can leave no room for you to successfully unpack your own issues. Please know that this Bright Line Eater does not now and will never feel that the blush is off your bloom because you are human.

This was exactly my story. After weeks of travel, serving others. Striving to stay on lines, now home and recently bingeing doing more food even some bread. Being home alone and eating more. The topic of surrender also applies in some other areas of my life. I’m re reading your book and recommitting. I appreciated you so much. I wish more people would accept this. I

Susan – what integrity, what Courage. As a person in long-term recovery, starting out in AA, 30+ years into this I have learned recovery is a continuum. Its not black and white , and certainly has been true for me the longer I am around. Quite frankly, the haters can go fuck themselves! To them I say, get your head out of your ass and start to think for yourself, instead of attaching yourself to propaganda because you’re afraid of a different perspective rocking your world. End of Rant. To you I say, THANK YOU! Thank you for modeling what it is to continue to speak your truth on a long journey. You are the embodiment of the Spirituality Of Imperfection. I have just discover BLE and it has already brought me so much peace. It has been far from perfect and I needed your message about surrender. JFTFP! Big Love to you! xoxoxxo

I love you, Susan! Knowing how this plan works and seeing that it works the same for you as for me, makes me know I’m in the right place. Thank you for continuing to work with us, for never giving up on your program, for being vulnerable, and for showing us that side as well as your usual strong committed side we all want to mirror. I’ve been following the program for 14 months as a 9 on the susceptibility scale and I’ve lost 65lbs. This works! I’ve still got 30 lbs to lose and I know I’ll get there. I’m anxious to be on maintenance and know that it will be harder than the weight loss plan. I’m counting on following your firm determination and I want to be just like you. Committed, dedicated, and real! Thank you, you beautiful soul!

Thank you, Susan for being vulnerable and real! I’m on day 71 with squeaky clean lines and I trust that this will be enough for me long term , but I’m so glad to know that you are human too!! And this makes me love you and BLE even more!!! MANY Blessings to you!!!

This observer believes that you, Susan, need a sabbatical. The academic in you understands that a sabbatical is NOT a vacation, but rather an opportunity to step away from the “noise” to carefully examine your work-in-the-largest-sense from an uninterrupted, unambushed setting. Such contemplation is VALUABLE use of time, and lord knows, you have pre-paid for the right to do this. Artists’ retreats (also called residencies) might present an appropriate “container” within which you can accomplish this. You’ll say, “But I’m not an artist.” I would answer, “Re-perceive yourself as an author of non-fiction. You’ve built a database on successful eating that you’ve not yet begun to mine. That volume(s), the companion to ‘Bright Line Eating,’ wants writing: it’s the counterpart to the roadmap on losing weight, namely, the roadmap to maintenance of a right-sized body. That latter part of the story yearns to come into existence, and no one is more appropriate to write it than yourself.”

When one examines the lives of persons who accomplish a great deal–writers, inventors, researchers, studio and performing artists, politicians–a thread that consistently appears among the many threads of their respective situations is regularized retreat. Retreat involves a protected community of talented people, along with solitary time. You know this, and probably also know the specifics of the neurochemical activity of replenishment that occur during retreat. If you can create BLE, Susan, you can certainly figure out how to give yourself a sabbatical. Do it in a place you’ve never visited before, one that’s physically beautiful, low tech, and low trafficked. You will not regret this. It will change your game.

Most of the above comments convey what I wanted to say, so I won’t go into long detail. Just wanted to jump in with support for you and what you do tho. Your honesty, transparency and ‘humanness’ are what, I believe, we ‘all’ need to see. We’re all different! Some people can sway, others cannot, but even if you’re one who can’t….you’re still human and will ‘fall off the wagon’ once in awhile. I couldn’t follow another human in something thinking they were perfect. I couldn’t live up to that. But you’re real! Thank God for that 🙂 Thanks for your program, all your hard work and your ability to do all this for many diverse people, and still make it work!

Life is a hectic merry go round and bright line eating one day at a time provides the home base to slow down and recover so we can smell the roses .again. It allows me to find my way back to living and thriving more peacefully. Thanks Susan for being so real because there really is no magic pill . We all just need a safe place to fall that provides the path forward again.

i think you put WAY too much pressure on yourself to “hold together” a program that obviously works. does it work 100%, for 100% of the people? NO PROGRAM DOES. THIS IS WHY ADDICTION IS INSIDIOUS. so if the program works for people a majority of the time, and yet you have the courage to admit nothing works ALL the time, that’s actually more helpful than trying to pretend you have a 100% cure. so thanks for the vlog and the honesty. this is exactly what a binge is, it’s desperate attempt to fill a hole, or bury pain. glad you’re back on the wagon. 😀 good luck!!

We all know how you feel and have experienced what you went thru. You are awesome and confessing your relapse to thousands of people will bring healing to you. Keeping it out in the open is what needs to happen to bring freedom to it.

Susan – I love you and am so thankful that you prize authenticity, honesty and “realness” over the illusion of perfection. I have been in OA (never lost weight) and everything you shared in this vlog made sense and is so relatable. Please take care of yourself, and please keep being honest and accepting of yourself and others wherever they are. The invitation to come back and rezoom – that it is ok and planned for that people may not adhere perfectly – is one of the things that makes BLE so different and something that we can do for the long haul, one day at a time. I hope that you are quickly able to re-balance your trio of service/support and I am so grateful for you and everyone who has connected in support through BLE. On a side note – I work in public health and totally understand the importance of the science and research. This is a totally unique contribution you have made to making accessible WHY this eating plan works. Haters gonna hate. You keep going and take care of yourself.

Thank you for your honesty. I did the Bootcamp a few years ago when it cost a lot of money – hoping to cure my food addiction and not wanting to go back to the 12 step program I had been in and out of for 25 years. Needless to say, as a food addict it did not work for me because our condition is not really about the food at all. So just “keeping my lines bright” is something that, as a food addict, I am powerless to do on my own, or even with the help of a fellowship. The reason is that it does nothing to address my true problem and the true solution. Food is not my problem. My problem is that food is my solution, and I need a relationship with my Higher Power that restores me to sanity. It says clearly in the Doctor’s Opinion in the Big Book of AA “They are restless, irritable and discontented, unless they can again experience the sense of ease and comfort which comes at once by taking a few drinks…After they have succumbed…the phenomenon of craving develops.” That is the physical allergy which you so aptly describe in your work, Susan. But the part that’s missing for those of us who are 10+ on the Susceptibility Scale and true food addicts is the mental obsession that goes along with this disease. There is a peculiar mental twist, a mental blind spot that will activate and always bring me back to the food unless I have a relationship with a Higher Power that deactivates that system. Even the different 12 step food programs I was in didn’t emphasize how to stay in fit spiritual condition so I could finally be free. By the grace of G-d I have been abstinent since July, worked through steps 1-9 again, and have a group that teaches me how to live in step 10 – which unclogs the channel to my Higher Power and 11 and 12 which allows that Power to flow through me and keep me out of looking to food as a solution. I am free today- and it’s not from surrendering to a rigid food plan. Yes, I don’t eat any of my “trigger” foods, and my food is clean, but it’s not about rigidity. The Big Book shows me what I need to do to stay in fit spiritual condition so I can stay out of the food. If you want an amazing community of RECOVERED compulsive overeaters who work the program as outlined in the Big Book please listen to A Vision For You meetings. They are totally free. They are also recorded so you can access them 24/7. The meetings are Monday through Friday at 7a.m. 8a.m. and 10 a.m. EST. To access the live meeting call 712-432-5210 and put in the access code 876148 #. To listen to recordings call 712-432-5203 and put in the same access code. Sundays 8:30 a.m. there is a Special Edition where a recovered compulsive overeater speaks for an hour. For the live Special Edition call the live meeting phone # and put in the access code. They are amazing. These are recorded also. To see the whole list of talks on various subjects you can go to their website avision4you.info and click on Special Editions. You can listen to them on line or take down the code next to the lecture so you can put in that # after the access code. I hope this is helpful. I have such freedom around the food today and a right size body-without the struggle. That’s G-d’s power – not mine.

I would like to agree. We need not to surrender to food aka bright lines. But to God Jesus and the Holy Spirit. This program is amazing but I want to be careful and use it as a tool and not the end all for my life.’s needs. We will all fall and we need something bigger than us to turn to in our fallen state. Food has been my god and idol since first grade. It’s hard to admit this but it’s true. I personally need to switch my idol which fills my void from food to my God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit.
No one can be perfect. But we have a perfect savior in Jesus.

Thank you for your honesty! I know it had to be hard decision to talk about this. But, it will help a lot of people. Each day is a new day and we can start again and get back on track. We can assess what was not working and try to improve on that. Good luck Susan!

Thank you, Susan for being so courageous! This vlog must have been very hard to make but it was so wonderful to listen to. I need t be reminded that recovery is hard and if I start to think its easy my gremlin will jump out and bite me. Thank you for reminding us that we need to be ever vigilant. Bless you.

Wow. What a powerful and honest person! First viewing, ever. I’m 87, no food or weight problems. No nothing about BLE. But do eat too many bad carbs. This is not my church, but I recall words from the Anglican Book of Common Prayer, referring to Christ – “in whose service is perfect freedom.” Yes, surrender. And thank you Susan – it is sweet. I read about surrender in words that make sense to me in books by a Tibetan become world scholar, the late Chogyam Trungpa. He really gets into it – surrender. I’m a believer. But to hear it live from a powerhouse like Susan was a very moving and, I hope, a significant experience. Thank you – very much. I’m very grateful for your gift.

Thank you for being authentic and sharing your true journey with us- it is a gift you give to all of us. You’ve made it clear that we can learn, grow, and still give and serve even though we aren’t always perfect.

Thank you so much Susan – beautiful and illuminating and so personally relevant… And when you say “What is…is” speaks to me of the power of the truth to set us free yes? I’ve been working to unravel and heal 3 “knots” that are bound together – food, money and men [s] – and surrendering to the truth has been the absolute key to unlocking the prison door (that opens from the inside).. First recognizing and accepting what is for me is the first and most profound step to taking responsibility and then i can truly ask for the help and surrender… I am in such synch with you – huge life lessons. Thank you again and again for the gift of YOU that you share, as well as your journey as the map-maker that you are. I’ve lost 104 pounds so far (124 from my very heaviest) – going to lose another 10 pounds. Such a truly life/evolution changing journey as it has illuminated for me my strengths that I can recognize and celebrate and own and augment, as well as my shortcomings/weaknessess that I can also recognize, ask for help to heal and love myself through (rather than beating myself up in the old way which was/is an archaic self-defeating behavior) . I know you know, but thank you for making such a difference in my life and so many countless others, as well as the world.

Wow! I am so moved by everything you said. There were points when I thought you were inside my head, and others where I knew such wisdom could only come from your truly humble and straight talking self. Thank you so much. I do want want to say that with my deeply entrenched fear of abandonment (that I have been working on a lot), I nevertheless felt triggered– that you would say that you were leaving us, albeit in capable hands. And it was a reminder of the work I still want to do to be happy, thin, and free. So, thank you, really– it’s not the triggers– it’s how we learn to handle them– just let them fire blanks.

Hi Susan,
For trail blazers, we must lean on our future selves. No one else knows where the path will lead. Glad to know your are human. Please have some compassion for yourself for being human. Keep on moving forward.

Thank you from someone who spent 9 years living and learning and eating in OA. Now I’m 32 days into BLE and as long as I also work the steps, I gave hope of physical recovery. I highly recommend the OA Burthday Party in January to you. All those 30+ year abstinent LA people are there to support and inspire. They are your tribe. Live you. Thanks

Susan, thank you so much for allowing us to see your vulnerability. I love your honesty and learning about surrender – don’t know why we fight it so hard, even as I know it brings me peace. And I am all about simplify, simplify, simplify! Bright lines is that road map for me. At the same time, hearing about your challenges and reading about other people’s slips, scares me to death! I haven’ t yet got the confidence that I hope will come over time. I’m 126 days into BLE and still have a long ways to go to get to my right weight. I don’t even know where that is because I think I’ve ever been there. But for the first time in my life, I think that might actually be possible. I’m reminding myself that getting to my right size isn’t the end point, but a benefit , along with being happy and free!

Thank you so much for your honesty! I’m struggling to get back to BLE and have been since August. Lost 23 pounds. I never reached my goal weight. Have gained back 6. This vlog brought me to tears and to my knees! It is what I needed to get back to BLE and doing the plan. I’m going to go back and watch the videos from boot camp and start posting again in Harkening House. I felt kind of lost in Bright Lifers. Thank you Susan! And wishing you peace!

Thank you for helping me realize something about
myself from this vlog. Like the other commenters, I am s0000
grateful. The idea that our leaders need to uphold
an impossible standard must be an ancient form of
torture . Probably a holdover from feudal days. :))
Having been a teacher, I know how that specter can
put the pressure on. It’s in the air, out there in the community,
and tries to reduce a teacher’s life to an ideal that is
much smaller than a normal, alive, beautiful self. Anyway,
thanks again for your courage and insight. It has helped me
a lot today. A lot.

We are all human and not perfect. As a 2 on the food scale I to find it difficult at times especially with a teenager to feed. Just like you said; One day at a time. Stay in the NOW. The pass is behind us and we can look to the future, but always remain in the NOW.

Thank you Susan! What a heartfelt, transparent, and relatable blog. I’m so grateful you shared this, I really can’t express my thanks enough. I’m not a Brightliner. I’ve been considering the program, wrestling with demons, and trying to get a deeper sense of you. I’m heartened by what you just went through because we ALL go through these times. I’ve just been through one with a friend dying. A week I was off my current program and it grew to a month. So, 6 days sounds good to me now! I’m back on a semi-Bright Line program (I know, no such thing) and making my way to Bright Line. Especially now. After you shared what you shared I understand on a deeper level that there is no choice but surrender. And I see too that the path I’ve been on– one of selfless service–is the path I want to be on but I need more “me” time, enlightened self-care, and to fill my cup so I can nourish others from the overflow–not the flow, the overflow. Hard lessons. I encourage & support you in your journey of the more equal 1/3s! And I see that the more I believe that I can “figure it out” and make things work is the further I am from surrender. Surrender is THE sweetest thing. You are a surrender warrior my sister. I’m on the road to joining you fully on the Bright Line. Thank you for who you are and all you do. Wishing you peace, joy, love, health, happiness always.

I love people that are sincere and REAL. Its refreshing. I commend you for reaching out and helping so many people! There is a very real problem and you address issues that no-one else does. Thank- you!

Thank you for your honesty. This BLE journey has opened my eyes to a lot of things I have been ignoring about my relationship with food. We are all dealing with the same daily struggle. I appreciate your courage and honesty in sharing with us. God bless you!! Love you!

Thank you, Susan, for your openness and sincerity. I literally can’t stop crying, something about your vlog just touched me very deeply. Thank you for putting yourself out there and being true to Your Self, it’s such an inspiration. Love, Silvia

Thank you for being so wonderfully, painfully open. I have found from my own professional journey that sometimes being totally vulnerable is the greatest strength we have. I love what you have created and I feel hope about my weight for the first time in 35 years. Hold on to that. What you have birthed is going to be of tremendous benefit to the world. May God Bless and keep you on your journey!

I love you Susan. What you just described is what’s missing from BLE. Imagine if the people in OA who helped you with your recovery and whom you came to respect and trust and see at every meeting were suddenly not there…. If they started going to other meetings and the only way you could access them, and trudge the road with them at the new meeting was to pay a monthly fee…. I did boot camp and felt great and lost the weight but felt betrayed after boot camp was over and most of the housemates went to Bright Lifers. The original house is still there and a few beautiful people still post but most have gone. I’ve lost control and am mired in the addiction with 60 lbs gone and back. I am glad you have free long term OA friends to help you get through this.

Dear Susan,
Thank you so much for this vlog. I could almost feel your pain as you talked about eating off-plan for those six days and that helped me to see that you understand what I have gone through for years. I am so glad you have found “surrender.” May you continue to be at peace around food. I am so grateful for BLE. The combination of a broad church, science and encouragement are helping me. Thank you.

Hi Susan – I think this VLOG was so important for many reasons. I think for you, as the leader of BLE, you had to hold yourself accountable and tell us about your experience over Thanksgiving. And how you found surrender. This is a powerful message to hear coming from you for the many that experience something similar and it gives them reassurance to know you can simply resume and find surrender. My other thought, which I have wondered about so many times, is how crazy it is, that we think about how wonderful we are and how grateful and mindful we are when we are doing something good for our bodies, yet when we are not, our brains shut OFF and disregard the bad activities or behaviors which allow them to continue and grow. I would be very interested to hear your thoughts on this matter, and if there may be further research or exploration on how to create awareness SOONER to curtail the bad behavior and addictions in our brains so we don’t numb out. I am on day 40 of my bootcamp and am loving the experience. Thank you fo ryo

Hi Susan – I think this VLOG was so important for many reasons. I think for you, as the leader of BLE, you had to hold yourself accountable and tell us about your experience over Thanksgiving. And how you found surrender. This is a powerful message to hear coming from you for the many that experience something similar and it gives them reassurance to know you can simply resume and find surrender. My other thought, which I have wondered about so many times, is how crazy it is, that we think about how wonderful we are and how grateful and mindful we are when we are doing something good for our bodies, yet when we are not, our brains shut OFF and disregard the bad activities or behaviors which allow them to continue and grow. I would be very interested to hear your thoughts on this matter, and if there may be further research or exploration on how to create awareness SOONER to curtail the bad behavior and addictions in our brains so we don’t numb out. I am on day 40 of my bootcamp and am loving the experience. Thank you for all your wisdom and support!

Dear Susan, Thank you for your true authentic self. The balance idea is most thoughtful. I have found that balance in this program. The Wisdom of Sundays by Oprah Winfrey is my uplifting reading in the am and pm. The interview on p.72 with Iyanla Vanzant was most interesting. Take care of You. Tons of good and loving energy to you.

This is week 10 for me (I am grateful for the extra two weeks, & I mean that sincerely). It has been an on again off again time for me. I won’t go into too much detail (this comes from a Virgo who doesn’t know the meaning of those words, but I will try!), but just enough to show you I truly appreciate your message. My husband & I have been married for 34 years & it has been THE best experience of my life, he is incredible so that isn’t the problem. I’ve always been a positive, up, happy person who could walk down the street and start laughing for no apparent reason. I lost that ability while caring for my adopted Grandmother, my parents & my husbands parents, pretty much all at the same time. I continued to survive & maintain enough of myself to be okay. I LOVED helping my family, no matter how difficult it seemed at times.

My husband & I moved to Southern CA in 2007 and had the best year of our lives! Notice I said “year” because it all came crashing down in 2008. We ended up moving out of California and it was down hill from there. I lost myself, completely. I over ate, I was depressed, I was confined to the house without ANY ability to go anywhere or do much of anything, all because of money or lack there of. My husband used to joke that the only difference between a criminal and me was I didn’t wear the ankle bracelet. In the beginning it was funny, as time passed, not so much. We will have lived here for 10 years next March. THE worst 10 years of our lives. THE biggest mistake we’ve ever made. Struggling without any friends (here), and losing over half the income we had while living in our home state of California, it has been(& still is) our biggest nightmare.

I have tried so many things, all on my own, to find a way out of my emotional trough, with no luck. My weight climbed, I developed Diabetes, high BP, high everything else, and my depression worsened, even on medication. I REALLY needed guidance, a plan that I could work with and that was made affordable with your 3-payment plan (thank you) then I discovered BLE. Thank goodness my (amazing) husband recognized the fact that I had finally found something (semi-affordable), that would allow me to continue down the Plant-based path I enjoyed so much and if I stuck with it, would allow me to loose weight, get off all my medications and make me Happy Thin Happy & Free once more.

Oh dear, I’m on paragraph 4 already, so much for brief, I really am trying (as my Father – the most important man in my life, all my life, & who my husband reminds me of – am I lucky or what – anyway, Dad used to tell me (when I’d say I’m trying…) “You’re VERY trying!” Always with a twinkle in his eye & a smile on his lips! I’ve always enjoyed that because it made me smile too. Onto paragraph 5, which will be the final one (I hear all you nay sayers out there – RIGHT!)

Until this moment when I listened to this Vlog, I had a REALLY hard time with this all the rest of the of your recorded messages because you were always smiling, always OVER positive and they were ALWAYS way too long (for me). Today, I saw you as a real person. Someone who is struggling to make it through each day, just like the rest of us. Personally, I NEEDED to hear/see/understand that. Why? That’s just what I’m doing and the BLE program completely overwhelmed me with the constant “to do” lists as well as trying to understand exactly what & how I can or can’t eat. At week 10, I am still struggling but I continue to do my best to stay within the Bright Lines. I’m getting into a routine that I can handle which enables me to stay on track even though I’m still struggling with being overwhelmed at my constant “to do” list. I’ve given myself permission to do the best I can & know it will be good enough – a real breakthrough for me , so I TRULY THANK YOU FOR TODAY’S VLOG/MESSAGE. I can take it from here and succeed as planned! I’ve lost 18 lbs. to date with another 18 to go & I now I can & will make those happen PLUS (& this is a really BIG one), I’m off ALL my medications, completely!!!! As I promised to keep this to 5 very small paragraphs, I will insert my salutation here…thank YOU for sharing your struggles & making us realize we are not alone. You’ve truly made an indelible impression in my life. Your humble student, Marcia

I’ve been “following” you for awhile and never read the book. I love the visual of Bright Lines. I made it through Thanksgiving because of your vlog. But then things changed and I did the BS talk to self about how to manipulate the system. Today, I watched this. I think I love you! It’s your transparency that ignites my passion to be well. Financially, you’re beyond reach, but my heart and soul heard you. Money doesn’t matter when you don’t JFTFP!Thank you for this sharing of TRUE surrender. I can’t manufacture it, but I know what I need to do. I’m so grateful that you’re human. Be well, dear Susan.

Susan: Thank you for having the guts to share your journey with us. It means a great deal, more than I can say. I live “one day at a time” now but always with the nagging voice in the back of my head that says I won’t be able to keep this up. (My dark side.) It is so powerful to know one can slip and then get back on through SURRENDER. It’s the KEY (along with “gratitude”.) You’re a wonderful girl. Keep up the good fight.

Blessings on all journeys! I follow “from afar”…and am always amazed how we humans have this paradoxical relationship with our talents and our trials…People in BLE have trouble with food on all levels-yet-we have to have eachother and talk about food and trade around recipes and in our weird way-deal with food and food issues so much more than people who are not in BLE…yet-sharing-on this level Susan-is SO important and human and HUMANE and insightful and the gift that you give the world.
I always laugh at myself as I try hard NOT to deal with food-yet can’t quit growing it, nurturing it, seeking out ways to make it more tasty-nutritious-filling-SATISFYING…grrrrr
In short-it would be so much easier if our food-was just something we did every day so we could do OTHER things…which is what BLE tries so hard to help us do-or how I understand it “from afar”…
Love your vlogs, blogs, book…haven’t had the gumption to dig in deep yet-but it might come yet! Know too-that with Hashimotos…it is also SO hard to stay on top of all the juxtaposed sensations of feeling well or not…I give you so much admiration and open arms to do what you need to do!

Susan this video made me cry. I have been taking care of my dying mother in law until her death Dec 2nd. My pain is so deep, she was my second mother and my children’s only grand ma. I have some hope that I can resume but struggling to do so. Your vulnerability has made me realize that this journey comes with its hardships and joy. Thanks for sharing and thank you for your wisdom!

You are so real and vulnerable. I always worry about you when I watch these gut wrenching confessions especially with the gentle but downward slope you have been on. The battle will never be over for us. Some times I am smug when I listen to these vlogs; however, I did catch myself eating salt sprinkled on my hand in between meals. I slammed that door shut as soon as I grasped the significance. Thankfully I am otherwise in a great place living Happy , Thin and Free about one pound above my lifetime future weight (unless I CHOOSE to add muscle).

Dearest Susan,
I love and admire you now more than ever. Thank you for demonstrating the courage to be real and tell our deepest truths. You have given me hope, not only about my weight, but about the rest off my life. That maybe, just maybe it is possible to show up and be honest even though it makes us vulnerable. Three times a day when I sit down to thank God for my food, I thank God for you, too.

Thank you Susan for “Sweet surrender”. You speak from your soul, no fake news. Your words connect. You really help me and the rest of your listeners become healthier as well as slimmer. God bless. Take care of yourself; you are needed

I cried during this. My heart broke for you – not because of your break with the bright lines, but to what lead you there. Heartbreak of a sort. A break in human relationship. So, so painful. And when one has been wobbling under all these pressures of becoming such a leader of this expanding business and movement, well, you were temporarily beyond your ability to cope and reached for an old friend for the extinguishment of pain. It DOES do that.
As you are wont, you developed amazing insight and framing around this sequence in your life, and presented it to us as a gift. It was very, very POWERFUL and moving. I am a puddle. I love your heart. You are precious and gifted and in fact GROWING through all this challenge in wisdom and depth. Thank you for being so authentic with us always.

Susan. I love you. Your honesty here was beautiful and I totally relate. Thank you. I’m a plus ten on your scale too and surrender for me is such a bitch. I have surrendered alcohol, drugs and cigarettes and continue to struggle with surrender of my food. May we both be blessed with it today one day at a time.

Beautiful call to do this vlog! NOTHING beats a real share done with humility and strength of conviction. And nothing, but nothing brings us home better, quicker and more profoundly than a meeting with plenty of old-timers. Keep it simple, but do it. Take it easy, but do it. Let go and let God.
god grant us the serenity
to accept the things
we cannot change,
courage to change the things
we can
and the wisdom to know
the difference

I’m glad you shared. Being vulnerable with the community helps to make us feel more connected and on an even playing field. There’s so much love and understanding here. No need to be perfect. Slow down, rest, reflect. It will all come out in the wash. Big love to you.

Oh dear Susan, thank you sooo much for your frankness. I’m sending you a big hug. You are REAL and god are you courageous to have spoken so openly about your difficult time of eating NMF. You have all my admiration. BRAVA !

So, this just might be the largest number of comments you have yet or will receive related to your vlogs, because you shared your heart and your humanity. Allow me to add my voice to all these others and say thank you. None of us is perfect, and I appreciate that neither are you. Like you said, “Let me way and measure my food today. One day at a time.” I’m a relative newbie in the midst of my fifth week, and already I am seeing that this surrender will be a daily surrender. Perhaps a moment by moment surrender.

So glad to know you are good. That you’re fine. I believe as you were told, that everything will fall into place, as you faithfully take care of you.

You have helped me so much. I am 70 years old and on social security. I cannot afford the program, but you heart felt honesty is helping me. I relate to your addictive personality and I send you love and blessings for you free Vlogs. You are a miracle to me.

Everything you shared here is EXACTLY the reason I chose to pay for BLE boot camp. Where else on earth, what other leader of any program – weight loss, food addiction, exercise, whatever – would ever do what you just did? Zero. Not even Oprah is that transparent!! I was drawn to your authenticity in those promotional videos, as many who’ve chosen this path have also been drawn. That you can share like you do has an ENORMOUS positive impact on us. What we all seem to lack is the ability to treat food like an afterthought. Some folks are blessed with that ability. Many of us are not. But that’s exactly why BLE works. So if we are never going to be able to “eat to live” in a natural way, we have got to have something to hold on to that we know works, even when we’re not working IT. Glad you found your peace through surrender. xoxo

Dear Susan I so feel for you. Why does telling about what you do make it harder to hold on to it? I ve written a song about a tenon the succeptability scale. And a successful journey. You might want to listen to it.

Why? Who knows why. I’ve never envied your position, busy, exposed and being a role model. Do you have an end to your tunnel never mind it has a light? In all of this where is time for you?
Everyone needs support, someone from outside their emotional circle of stress lending them their thinking to put them back in touch with their ability to do stuff.
Welcome darling to being human. The great thing about BLE is we only expect you to be honest and human. Do you need more time for you?

I’m new to BLE, but I can honestly say I’ve learned the most from your sharing your struggles. I can only hope that some day I can put down my protective walls with the same grace as you’ve modeled so unselfishly. Thank you so much for sharing! Now please take care of yourself and know that the work you have done has touched so many lives.

Thank you , Thankyou , Thankyou.
Have struggled all my time in BLE.
We had coaching call and you said “prey for surrender”
I’m still here but been eating for past month on plan and you described my slow but sure journey back in to isolation.
I stopped posting on bootcamp as I could bear to say I’d broken lines again.
I’ve missed last 2 weeks of MM group and my new buddies havnt heard from me for a week coz I said I am contemplating what to do next.
I’ve surrendered in to my disease.
I need to surrender in to the plan
I think I’ll look up some old contacts from fellowship for a bit of support.
Thank you for your brave honesty
I have felt very alone in my real struggle in BLE
Good luck with your journey Susan
Love SueB from 🇬🇧
💕💖🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏

Susan, I have been following you for the past few months and I’m continually inspired by your vision, your company and your commitment. Your authenticity is so helpful and courageous. I agree that it is key to be intentional with our relationships and balancing our time connecting with mentors/coaches, “battle buddies,” and those we invest in and serve. I’m so happy for you that you have the support you need so you can keep being the inspiration and encouragement that you are to so many of us.

Dearest Susan, you are a gift to all. Thank you for being so honest and humble and making life easier for all of us BLEs.
We are truly blessed to have you in our lives……you are making a difference…take care of yourself and May God continue to Bless you!

Your imperfection is beautiful. I always wondered how you kept it together! Your stumble will help others to return to what’s best and right for them. A stumble isn’t fatal; it’s an opportunity to rise to a higher level of surrender.

Thank you thank you many times over for this piece, Susan. I resonate with it from start to finish. I’m a 10, probably a 10+, have just attained my goal weight, but am an emotional eater and a life-long addict. This program works for me due to its close attention to addiction, going way beyond weight loss. I stand with you, behind you, and next to you. As Mr. Rogers always said, “I love you just the way you are.” I hope we will meet someday.

Yes I haven’t had time to tune in since the disaster of Irma. Wanted to sign up for retreat before the spa I worked out of blew away. Now I take care of a group home if developmentally disabled people who constantly get donations of these bad carbs. I think I am done with my run on them now . I recently joined this weight loss challenge. And have a personal trainer a couple times a week. Sometimes it takes an entire week to recover from a workout even with massages. But my food is much cleaner! It is challenging to recover from the disaster, maintain my sobriety, staying clean from all drugs including nicotine and to work this phase of my recovery . Thx for your support while I work for the same money I made 20 years ago. Before all the inflation and added responsibility. Thank higher power for the courage to rise to the occasion .

DEAR SWEET SUSAN,
YOU INSTILL SO MUCH KNOWLEDGE UPON US THRU YOUR LIFE JOURNEYS.
WORDS SIMPLY CANNOT EXPRESS HOW YOU HAVE CHANGED MY LIFE THUS FAR
I TOTALLY SURRENDERED UPON MY BOOTCAMP IN OCT. 2016. (ONLY I DIDN’T REALIZE THAT’S WHAT I HAD DONE UNTIL HEARING YOU TODAY)
I KNEW AFTER WATCHING ALL OF YOUR INTRO VIDEOS ALONG WITH YOUR SCIENCE & LAB BASED INFO…THIS BLE THING JUST MADE TOTALLY & COMPLETE SENSE.
TODAY IS MY 437TH DAY & I’VE LOST 123 ILBS. & AM WEARING A SIZE THAT I HONESTLY DON’T REMEMBER EVER WEARING…NOT EVEN IN HIGH SCHOOL.
I’M EXPERIENCING SHOCK FROM FRIENDS WHO HAVE NOT SEEN ME…& I AM SO LOVING HAVING TO BE MINDFUL WHEN I SIT ON THE TIOLET BECAUSE MY ROUNDED ASS IS NO LONGER THERE !!!
I WOULD NOT BE EXPERIENCING ALL OF THESE UNBELIEVABLE THINGS IN MY LIFE, IF IT WEREN’T FOR YOUR TENACITY & PERSEVERANCE IN YOUR QUEST TO HELP OTHERS FIND “THE FORMULA” TO LOOSE & KEEP OFF YOUR WEIGHT.
SO SWEET SUSAN, TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF, SPEND MORE TIME WITH YOUR GIRLS (HOPE YOUR ONE DAUGHTER’S ARM HAS MENDED WELL) & CARPE DIEM…LIFE IS SO DAMN SHORT & FLEETING…THE UNIVERSE IS WITH YOU.
SENDING ALL MY LOVE & WISHING YOU & YOUR FAMILY THE VERY BEST CHRISTMAS EVER !!!
GRANNY STARK
XO
OX

Susan your vlog today really touched my heart. You are such a beautiful and honest woman. THANK YOU !!!! So grateful for you, for the BLE system, the BLE buddies I have made and for knowing there is a way that works. Not all the time, but it does work, and I can come back to it when I stray away. I am held by this system. THANK YOU SUSAN FOR BEING SO REAL WITH US, Katerina, New Zealand, age 71.

It’s the hardships and the struggles that we share with the community that really help us to have HOPE. I am learning and living in BLE world that you have struggled to create for us. It’s so hard to be in your leadership role. I’m praying that you continue to find peace.

Thank you so much for sharing your experience and for your honesty. I am also a 10+ and been in BLE since October 2016 and have been able to not break my lines for that time but the last few days it seems to have been such a struggle. I love that you talk about surrender and that just clicked so much for me as this is exactly what I did when I joined and it had always been so easy for me. I realize that I have all these saboteurs around saying ‘don’t lose any more weight’ (which I had no intention of doing!!) and I think that they have been getting into my brain which was very quick to interpret their comments as giving me permission to stray. Thank God that I haven’t but I was soooo close! Your VLOG today has been my saving grace. I have written ‘I am a 10+ this is not negotiable and just JFTFP. Do what gives me peace.’ This made me realize that BLE has provided me with peace for the past 14 months. Thank you Susan for your commitment to BLE. You are amazing! Love you heaps and I am forever grateful for all that you do.

Dear Susan,
I wish I can give you a big giant hug. In listening to you share about yourself, I was able to identify with the crazy food addiction, the deep desire to reach oblivion with the food, and the fallout of giving up the 12 step rooms and people.

After watching your video, something amazing happened. These really horrible, negative thoughts and feelings about myself lifted. After starting BLE in March 2016, I lost 21 of my 30 lbs. Then in June 2017, I decided to stop doing OA HOW. I gave up my sponsor and 4 sponsees. I stopped going to meetings. What I didn’t realize at the time was that I just cut out a huge part of my support system that I had for 12 years. By mid July, at a wedding, I ate everything. I didn’t see it as a problem at the time. But then the next day I overate at the brunch and it is now December and I am still struggling to get 30 days back to back. Somehow, regaining the weight, looks even worse. My body is popping out in ways it never had before. I dropped off from BLE. I just stopped showing up in general and ghosted on my Mastermind group. I cannot describe the intensity of the depressed state I have been experiencing. But hearing your story ….without shame….shifted something in me. For that I am very grateful.

I just watched your vlog. While I have had tremendous success in a recovery program called Celebrate Recovery for other issues in my life, I never once considered that my weight issues also needed to be surrendered. I know what surrender feels like but not yet felt it about food. As you talked about your 6 days of eating, I also am in a phase of eating too much and everything. I feel horrible, stuffed continually and always thinking about the next piece of food to put into my mouth. I haven’t even started the BLE eating plan yet because I’m can’t get past the thoughts that this isn’t going to work for me. So…………………… what do I do now? your sincere, heartfelt testimony about your eating gives hope that I may yet be in my own right sized body.
Thank you!

Wow! You are absolutely incredible.
You speak so articulately about every
single struggle you have and you always
manage to come up with a powerful solution.
You are always telling all of us how proud you are
of what he have accomplished, and I just
want you to know how proud we all are of
you for being so transparent and authentic!
Good luck in trying to balance out your
support that you were speaking about!
What you have is integrity and for that you
should be so thankful. Have a wonderful
night. 😀

Life is balance. When you are in a position where you are helping others it is easy to feel the pressure and lose yourself in the process. I like your realization that you need to lean on a variety of folks who have walked the walk. Don’t get so sucked into this that you lose your own journey. Your family is first. Protect your schedule so that you have down time for yourself and your family. Thank you for being so open and honest. Most have been where you have been and have slipped off the deep end and the fact that your came back, resumed, is what counts. We are not perfect creatures and we need to give ourselves grace.

Susan, it is SO RARE to find leaders who are REAL. You are the real deal. Thank you for creating Bright Line Eating. I do feel well held in the boot camp. And i SO LOVE that you are working your own program and determining, with HP’s help, what you need. I am certain everything will be alright. I am grateful for you everyday. Much love!!

I truly appreciate you sharing your challenges. I’m sorry you had to go through them, but I’m glad you shared your struggles with us. For me, bright line eating is not a diet but a recovery program. I’m also a 10+ + on the susceptibility scale and I know that even the smallest of deviations will “give me permission” to just keep on deviating. I’d love to hear more about how you “surrender your food.”

The message for me in this vlog is to serve with balance. This season it is better but oh my goodness the stories about depleting willpower are all too real. I’m grateful for your willingness to be transparent. Thank you for all that you do!

Thank you Susan. It is so powerful to know that I am not alone. I had this same experience over thanksgiving as well. Ate Friday to Sunday and am still having small slip ups once a week. Am with you. ❤️

I am new to the program and was on the fence about how legit all of this was. The more I learn about you the more I appreciate who you are as a person and how brave you are. You are a gift to this world.

Dear Susan…you spoke so honestly, deeply and with so much compassion…I had tears in my eyes and a smile on my lips…that is how it is for us over eaters, how hard it is for us sometimes to do the very thing that makes us happy, well and free…again thank you, I truly feel I love you and trust you…

Susan you are hands down the most excellent human being I have come across in 2017. Thank you for your candour. I watched and listened all the way to the last second. I hope your prayer remains a daily reality. I hope it for me too. And thank you for having the courage to disrupt your life so wholly to bring BLE to me and thousands of others. With love

Susan thanks so much for your share on surrender I too am from FA When they’re lost 50 pounds had a car accident gained it all back and Some i know what you’re talking about Weighing and measuring your food but I could not make all the meetings I just wanna to let you know that we need both. FA will work for some people and bright line eating work for some people some of us
will never be able to make 3 assign meetings as the rules are thanks so much for your service I love the 12 step program but did not fit my life style I did not fit in to their guidelines thanks for bright line eating I still struggle with my food but hope to get there your book Explained why I can only eat 3 meals and And that it will always be that way the same rollercoaster If I Stay in the sugar and flour that will never change I can never play with my food I’m a 10 plus I needed that informacion what it does to your brain and nobody could ever explain that in a 12 step program thanks For all that you do now And all that you will do any future love zeldra

OMG- this is the attitude, level of honesty and compassion for self, sense of levity and humor, and message of the absolute imperativeness of connection with others on the path that I have hungered for in my entire journey with food. I never saw this in my 15 years in every permutation of OA that you can imagine. I never felt it in any food group therapy, individual therapy, online groups, etc. etc.

Susan, what a holiday gift you have given to all of us. Permission to just be ourselves no matter what, as you have so graciously and courageously displayed here. And the message of “just eat on the food plan” and “everything else will shake out just fine”. This gives me a focus, a peace, a groundedness that I can take into this day (and the next and the next) that will, if I surrender to it, keep me on my right path for the first time in my 62 years. I am so grateful for you. Happy holidays!

Susan ,
How can We not love you. Your honesty and humanity . For sure surender is most good remedy. Just love yoy . Continue thejourney with you is the most important in BL E. You are the best. Thank you.

Susan, Since being introduced to you by Ty Bollinger, I have followed with interest and great appreciation your videos, vlogs and emails. I am fortunate in that I don’t have addictive eating patterns and am very low on the susceptibility scale. However, there are many people in my life who do. I regularly forward your emails to them when I think it is useful.

This comment is really to you, rather than for public posting: I’m not on FaceBook and am not sure how to reach you directly. I’m sure one of your team will read it, though, and pass on what is useful.

An area so many people have difficulty in addressing is the actual triggering of behaviour, the ‘Pavlovian response’. Dr Anne Jensen of HeartSpeak has been working for many years in this area and has developed an approach which allows people to lessen the triggers – in some cases these disappear completely – and restore a balance between the emotional and logical brains. Dr Jensen has just finished the development of a new course called HeartSpeak Lite, which is accessible to anyone and can be learned in a few hours.

Over the past 2 ½ years, I have found HeartSpeak to be an invaluable tool and my own life and that of others. I think that it could certainly be of use to some members of the BriteLine community.

Dr Jensen has an extensive background in psychology, including an M Sc and D Phil from the Centre for Evidence Based medicine at Oxford University. If you are interested in learning more about her ground-breaking approach, you can find it on the HeartSpeak website http://www.heartspeak.com

Please feel free to email either Dr Jensen or myself with any questions you may have. And thank you again for the openness and transparency you are sharing with the world.
Valerie Poulard, Québec, Canada
(principal French translator for Dr Jensen)

So proud of you for sharing so proud of your strength. Thanks for giving so much of yourself. Please know you have made so many lives better because of it. Please pull our energy whenever you need it. It’s there. So much strong, positive energy for you. You have changed my life forever and I forever am grateful to you. Everyday if we don’t say it. We think it! Sending great beautiful energy to you. Thank you.

Hi Susan, Thanks for the great vlog. We all appreciate your openness and honesty, and please know that because you share your struggles and experiments that you are achieving your aim in creating a safe space for all of us to find our own individual way within a circle of love and support. That said, in my view, the rest of the story is this…you are a very, very, very high achiever; you’ve dreamed a big dream and have been and still are being led on a very high, and long, road. Getting BLE started and getting the book published was just phase one. I remember the rest of your dreams of the large number of converts and changed lives you are working toward, and still further down the road than that is the dream of getting BLE to be covered by insurance, and dare we say, Medicaid approved? BLE is, and will, literally change the world. While I’m sure that you derive pride and a sense of reward and achievement from your labor, in the main, you are doing what you do, not for yourself, but for the rest of us. By definition, you are “the leader”. It’s not reasonable, and never was, for you to have ever thought that “we” would ever be “enough” for you. We know you love us, and we know (and your candor demonstrates) that you don’t Lord anything over us, but the bare bones truth is that we aren’t really your tribe. Not because you don’t love us, or that we don’t love you, but because we aren’t your peers. As you are finding out, you need your own mentors and you need your own peers. In your own words, that’s part of what “is”. So reach for all the stars that were (and still are) contained in your original meditation. Go ahead and be our fearless leader. Take care of yourself, so that you can be the effective leader that you are, and were made to be. We all know that you won’t abuse your position of “first among equals”. Thanks for everything you do. We love you and trust you, and for myself, I have to say, it’s wonderful to watch you grow into your many roles as dreamer, manifester, health leader, business leader, professional, and working mom, wife and beautiful, full woman. You are an inspiration on so many levels. But as wonderful as all that is, without the support of your own true tribe, the load of being all that will wear you out. So…Go girl. Be all of who you are. Plug into what feeds and supports you. And know that we are all so blessed to be able to follow along in your wake.It’s a safe and happy place to be. Many hugs and much love.

I don’t understand what “surrender” means. Yes, I know I have an eating problem, yes I have medical problems because of this weight, but to surrender???? The knowledge of it, yes, already done that. Or the surrender to the fact that I’m broken and have an addiction? I just don’t know.

Just a thought: You can become addicted to the need for perfection in recovery of food addiction. The wt loss and the health are intact (2 big pluses) . Finding peace in the imperfection of our humanity is the real surrender. It’s like trying to live by the law biblically. Only grace. Lives surrendered to the whole process.

Susan, I worry about this need to be perfect. The world is not perfect. We are not perfect. Most days ‘pretty good’ or ‘practically perfect” is really good enough. As long as we are not derailed and are moving in the right direction. In my opinion, truly expecting ourselves to be absolutely perfect is asking for trouble.
You have already won–you are happy, thin and free. Do you really need to be perfect too?
Thank you for all you do.

I can’t imagine the pressure that is self-inflicted because you are the owner of a major movement. What an accomplishment among the many other accomplishments in your life. You are so strong and brave to be able to share your struggles with all your followers and the whole world. Know that you are loved and supported by everyone who is in your movement and who has ever had a struggle. God bless you, take one day at a time, one meal at a time, and never give up. Thank you for all that you do.

I love you, love that you show us all the paths this journey can take. My life perspective is this—it is what it is… many people hear me say this and think I’m being negative about life. I think not so. I’m just living and choosing and weighing and measuring one day at a time, and each day… it is what it is. You plug in wherever and whenever you need, and just know that many, many, many folks out here are grateful for your courage and candor. You are shining the light on the path for us. That puts a lot on your plate, but you have chosen to continue in your role as leader. For this I am eternally, deeply grateful. Love, love, love you!!

Thank you for being a great example of reZooming — of allowing, of lovingkindness and of, most importantly, listening to your thinking. I have learned much in this boot camp from others and about myself. Couldn’t have learned those things anywhere else. And, kudos to you, you’re living it. You are walking the walk – like the rest of us. I walk, I run, I fall, I get up — and I keep on dancing (paraphrased).

Thanks for sharing your struggle & being so real
& honest. That’s why we love you & feel safe in BLE.
Yes. To surrender one day at a time with the food plan.
Stay well & know many pray for your peace ! 💕

Thank you soooo much Susan for creating a food program other than a 12th step program that incorporates Neuroscience and leaves the shaming behind. I appreciate the structure but don’t need the rest – and it works just fine.

Thank you also for sharing your Experience, Strength and Hope. Thank you for being human and sharing so honestly. This helps all of us not toss in the towel when we cross a line.

Susan, just keep being you. We love you. It’s actually an encouragement to hear from your lips are very human you are. Thank you thank you thank you. It’s a wonderful program. You’re doing a good job. Thank you for being so honest with us all. Arden

Wow!
What stunning vulnerability and lucidity.
When I hear you talking about hiding the temptations behind the facade, I can’t help think of Brené Brown’s ruminations on shame. Shame only allows the beast to grow.
Yikes!
You are so brave and talented! You are sharing your gifts with the world. Bless the jealous naysayers! Let your light shine! This is your Life’s Purpose and you are living and breathing it every day!
Be not affeared!

For financial reasons, I mean we are on food stamps, I could not even do the 14 day challenge. It sucked but I have been following you from day one and that alone has helped me learn about so much. I have never been to any recovery programs but you have educated me in so many ways, I never miss a vlog, and I have to say you have deep strength and love that I don’t know if you really know or give yourself credit for, not ego but authentic.I am so proud of you and so thankful of you for always being you. One day, I swear, I am going to buy your book. I love you and pray for you. Sylvia from North Carolina,

Susan you are so human .But you pick yourself up and rezoom. Perfect example just rezoom . You are right ,”don’t complicates things “, keep it simple. (AFG). And remember always one day at a time. So proud of you!

I want to thank you for your courageous honesty and work , balance is so important ,perfection is impossible ,forgiveness acceptance surrender and one day at a time sometimes one hour at a time . I haven’t surrendered to weighing and measuring after an attempt that had me removing oatmeal kernels until the scale was perfect and I wanted to throw the bowl across the room, but I do focus on keeping flour and sugar out of my body and eating three times a day only . Emotion thinking and acting whether in or out are in a delicate balance that sometimes gets upturned but we can always pray for surrender and trust it will come . I am curious what it’s like for those around you to see you eating off your plan though- David in particular- does your behavior with them change?

progress not perfection. we are not saints. thanks Susan for your sharing of experience strength and hope and the lesson of the progressiveness of our cunning, baffling and powerful disease that is always going to be there awaiting our stnking thinking, our lack of spiritual progress. OA HOW and gray sheeters and food addicts anonymous 12-step groups figured out what you have been marketing —that there can be no true sobriety without abstinence because the addiction is still the distraction that fills up our minds keeping us from attaining emotional sobriety . When our minds are filled like that the spiritual solution is blocked by our ego (Edging God Out.) This has been my path, unfortunately, since 1998 when I broke my abstinence from sugar and flour, 3 measured meals a day and nothing in between, and have up to now been gaming the system of managing my obsession of the mind and allergy of the body. Looking forward to more inspiration from you as you recover your recovery and perhaps ontroduce more elements in to it from your learnings the past couple of years.

I’ve been expecting this ever since I first found your Bright Line Eating camps. At first I thought it sounded like a great idea, was considering doing it. Then I realised that you were insistent on weighing and measuring your food. That took me to a flashback of WeightWatchers when I was 13 and the misery of weighing and measuring my food, longing to eat more – and of course, I did and turned to bulimia to keep losing weight (doesn’t work), cue years and years of hating my body for being fat and always getting fatter, yo yo dieting etc. No.
You are not in recovery. You are a restrained eater. You don’t have a normal eating habit either. People who have a normal eating habit, eat as much as they want of whatever they want and stay slim. How do they do that? Generally they don’t eat much (or any) sugar and not a huge amount of refined carbs either. They tend to eat veggies and meat in varying amounts. I remember my father always saying as my mother pressed some other sweet dessert on him, “I have a small appetite and I don’t like sweet things.” He was not insulin resistant and his leptin* levels kept him slim. Eventually my mother wore him down and he started eating desserts, grew a stomach because sugar does that to you..
Of course nowadays, practically nobody has a normal eating habit, though some have microbiomes that keep them slim. My aim, which is not so far away, though I’m not in my right size body yet, is a normal eating habit where I don’t need to think about food at all. Like my father I’ll eat when I’m hungry and stop when I’m full, I’ll trust my leptin levels. That’s it. Weighing and measuring your food is basically putting yourself into food jail. The tension of keeping the rules all the time means that a breakout is inevitable. I’ll happily stay away from sugar and flour and eat three meals a day (or less, I like intermittent fasting), but I will not weigh and measure my food. When I feel what I’m eating properly, I stop and leave food on my plate because I don’t want it, often a lot sooner than I expect. So long as I don’t eat sugar and flour, this works brilliantly. I think you should try trusting your leptin levels too.
* I mean the hormone – I can never remember if it’s leptin or lectin.

Patricia it sounds like you might be lower on the susceptibility scale. For those of us that struggle with food addiction, there is great peace and food freedom in measuring our food. In fact, I think about and obsess about food way less when I weigh and measure my food.

Prior to joining Bright Line Eating, I spent 8 months trying to learn my fullness levels and stop eating when full, and it just didn’t work me. We are all different and I love watching so many people get to goal weight on BLE ❤️

One of my favorite hymns, Susan, is “I Surrender All’ . . . I think Chris Botti plays it on horn, if you care to listen. You are GIFT. Pure. Simple. OK, not so simple, but that’s actually WONDER-FULL! You. Gift. Me. Grateful.

Wow, Susan. There are so many comments that I hesitated writing one of my own, but I can’t help it! I LOVE , LOVE, LOVE, that you are walking this path with me and being open about your struggles. This vlog was so timely for me—you have no idea ! I just finished week 9 of boot camp and it was my worst week EVER ! I had lost 20 lbs, but gained 3 back this past week. I can’t say why, just lost sight of the BL’s and felt helpless to stop! I am an 8 on the scale and kept thinking that I could add things to the Food Plan down the road because I couldn’t relate to your “brownie batter in a bowl” story. I told myself over and over to just rezoom tomorrow , every day his past week! Tonight I was reminded of what you said at the beginning of Boot Camp, that the people this works for are the ones who really , REALLY, want it! I do REALLY, REALLY want this! For me, it is not just weight loss, but health problems as well from the weight. I HAVE TO DO THIS, AND I REALLY WANT TO ! I had this nagging feeling that this past week was the end and that I wasn’t going to make it. Your honesty in this vlog has given me the hope and renewed commitment to start again tomorrow morning , I was ashamed to go online to the community, I have been embarrassed, but I will be back there tomorrow and committing again. Thank you, thank you, thank you, for pouring yourself into me personally, I was in tears listening to you as I was relating to every word and so grateful . You gave me exactly what I needed to go forward—I know this is going to work! You are an amazing lady , with such a loving, caring heart. I am surrendering now and am looking forward to feeling the sweetness of it!

Thank you for sharing. I am coming off a sugar binge, brought on by trying to numb a deep emotional pain. For sure, “no joy”. I love and appreciate you! Glad that you have safe, loving mentors you can turn to. God bless 💞

Thank you so much for your honesty and candor. You are real and amazing! I can’t tell you how much finding you and your program have meant to me. Your example and honesty are so powerful. I believe in you and know you can do this!

Susan, I so hope you read Abigail Stewart’s message! I know that on the one hand you feel one must never break their bright lines or they 100% will fade away. This is just not true. I fee that the number 1 thing you have to keep doing, the brightest line of all, is to take care of yourself. REALLY take care of yourself. You are so amazing and I knew as I started to listen to this vlog, and know deep in my heart, that you will always get back to your bright lines – always as long as you take care of yourself. Which you did. And hopefully will do more of. The worst I ever felt during my BLE experience so far was the first three days. On the second day, I allowed myself to sit down with a small glass of unsweetened almond milk, and quietly, slowly drink it, because my stomach hurt so bady. I felt SO much better after that that I knew it had been absolutely the right thing to do – and I didn’t need to do it again. I waited calmly until my next meal and carried on – with full knowledge that I had never broken my bright lines. I had taken care of myself. I don’t call it my fifth bright line, I like to call it my Bright Universe Golden Rule. Above EVERYTHING, I’ll do whatever is best to take care of myself. Because, for now anyway, here on this planet, my self is my universe. It emcompases everything I do, everywhere I go, all that I am, everything I think, feel and say. I will care for my self, above all. And, sometimes that does mean doing something for someone else. But not when it is at the expense of you. You have built a great machine. It will go on, in it’s perfectly imperfect ways. Take a break. My favorite way to do this is in the wilderness. And even before bright line eating, I planned all of my meals and ate only what I planned – you just cannot carry anything extra. You do need to eat heavier, though, so plan on that. But somehow, being out in wonderful untrammeled grandiose nature with only what you can carry on your back, a bit of plan and a map, is so incredibly healing. And the best side effects are how wonderful a shower actually feels when you come home, the taste and sensation of eating fresh vegetables again, even getting on the scale to see what happened there!

Got it. The missing piece /peace.
Where does the leadership go for leadership? The care-giver for care?
When children are premature – there is support;
When marriages are on the rocks – there is acceptance;
When the family triggers ? Perhaps the same emotions and thinking that created the addictions we have ?
There does need to be an emegency plan for that one!
And not just an emegency eating plan…. but aplan for the place we find ourselves in again,
like we were still or again a child, a victim, helpless: hurt and angry and defensive and passive aggressive and avoiding and surviving …. whatever… if anyone or anything can push the buttons that send us backward to being all we grew out of….it is family.

One of the things that Dr. Lim talked about falling about the wagon is that people learn to be resilenced which means that you pick yourself up after straying away from the plan. Here is his video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kg1d6LGeMr4. Hope this helps.

Thank you for your amazing true and honest vlog. I have been doing CODA for a few years, and I completely understand ‘surrender’. It’s when you let things be as they are, not as you want them to be. And the relief, and release is indeed so sweet. And yet…and yet! With eating, I have yet to go there. I find hope and strength in your message that I too can get to that place of finding safety in Breakfast, lunch and dinner and weighing. Because I am out of control. I’m 43, a single mom of a beautiful 6 month old, wanting so much to be strong and healthy and fit for when she starts to crawl,/walk/run and wanting so much to be free so I can enjoy my life without thinking about food, obsessing about it day after day. Since I was 13, and suddenly aware of what food could do and help with. I too am afraid of the silence that this plan will create when I’ve stopped obsessing. The deafening silence that I’ve probably run from by eating. Thank you again for sharing! (ps. I have the 14 day challenge and am ready to start soon!)

I love that you can be so direct and imperfect. I am the world’s most skeptical,, scientific type and I have found your program the only thing that works for me to avoid binges for sustained periods of time (weeks and sometimes months). I definitely took Thanksgiving off (intentionally) and it was so very hard to get back in with 3 false starts. But I did it and with over 90% of my days weighing and measuring my food, I feel pretty delighted at having a Brightlines tool. I did not do a boot camp or such, I just told the people in my life not to push the wrong foods. That was enough. I have struggled with food since the age of 9 and now, in middle age, I have found a program I believe will work for life. Thank you.

Have wanted to watch this for the longest time but am feeling buried by the emotions falling out of all that is happening in my life. So glad I finally excavated it. So much I relate to. So very timely for me. Lord, get me through these holidays – and get you through them too. Hugs

Susan,
As a former drug addict and food addict, my heart ached for you as you told your story. I wish I could have reached through the monitor and hugged you until my positive energy replenished yours! Thank you for your honesty and openness. You are courageous and it is empowering to the rest of us to hear these words.
I wanted to share something back with you that I’ve used to help me stay drug free for over 30 years now, and just maybe this mindset can help you with your addictions as well. I have this image of a massive, terrifying cliff where I throw all my unwanted habits, baggage, desires, etc., once I decide I am truly ready to part with them. (Sometimes even the ugliest of issues feels like the old comfortable shoe that I don’t know how to part with even though I simultaneously hate it being in my life.) So, over this horrible, jagged cliff they go, and I watch them from about 1000 feet away (I’m an awesome pitcher in these images!). I hear them CRASH and shatter to bits as they hit the far distant bottom, but I cannot see them any longer. Now, I know there will be times when I want to just peer over the edge and look at this huge pile of discarded trash from my life; sometimes I try to justify that I want to see how much I’ve let go if or how far I’ve grown, and other times, I find myself second-guessing whether I was really ready to have thrown that baggage away after all. All these temptations have me feeling like I want to jut look… just think about looking, so I can see how I feel. This is why I use the massive cliff image. I am not only TERRIFIED of heights, but I also have this irrational fear that if I get too close to the edge of a cliff, I might uncontrollably throw myself off in a moment of curiosity or insanity or instability or whatever. (I find myself wondering and trying to understand what people are thinking of that could cause them to jump from heights like that.) In my image, I draw a huge line in the ground that is about 500’ from the edge, and I warn myself that any closer than that, and a strong wind might suck me right over, even against my very will. If I find myself curious, I try to remember that it’s not just safe to not lean over the edge, I have to stay quite a distance away from the edge to truly be safe. If dust gets in my eyes and I can’t see, I won’t be so close that I wander over the edge. If someone or something distracts me, I won’t fall off the cliff. If I’m being attacked by something or there is an earthquake, I’m not going off the deep end. In short, I stay SOOO far away from the edge, that I can dance and run and be free without worry of slipping into the abyss.
And this is how I handle my flour & sugar. I am a F&S addict, and it had total power over me. So, I couldn’t be friends with it; I couldn’t invite it to live in my neighborhood; I couldn’t look at it. It had raped me of my health and happiness, and I had to stop looking at it like a cute boyfriend and start seeing it as a rapist! So, when I decided to start BLE, I cast that bastard over the cliff and decided right then & there that he wasn’t worth another look or even a thought of a look! I absolutely know, without hesitation or doubt, that no matter who is eating what- or what is eating me- I will NEVER allow F&S into my body as long as my brain is functioning properly (if I get dementia, I can’t be sure, but I HAVE notified all my loved ones of my wishes if that happens!) I don’t want to get sucked over the edge of that cliff, so I stay FAR away from it. Toying with reason and possibilities is just me walking on that cliff’s edge thinking I can balance because I’m in control. But standing that close doesn’t account for the outside influence that pushes you over. So, I stay at least 500’- or preferably 1000’ away from the cliff’s edge and enjoy the freedom of having that space.
Anyhow, if you can visualize this, and you think it might help, you’re welcome to use it, or even recommend it. I just know it works well for me. I am empowered by the distance much more than the cast off of the garbage.
May you always keep a great distance between you and your addictions!
Love and hugs,
Gwen DuQuette

I don’t think it’s just a matter of surrender. You didn’t eat anything off your plan in those tough times because you were in FA. I’m grateful that I found FA through BLE. Ultimately, BLE could not give me long term abstinence like FA does. For many reasons.

I wish you the best and it sounds like you have also realized that you need FA for true recovery.

Great share Susan, Day One tomorrow after quite a few years of doing exactly what you shared about. Looking forward to the freedom that comes with clar boundaries. Love your food plan . Humility is so important. One meal at a time, one day at a time. Thanks again for your share.

Your life experience , as much as you want to claim different ….is not! I feel your pain and understand your food addiction, but not every one is born with a silver spoon in there mouth! Who paid for your education after you left the so called drug house? Don’t want to know the answer… just want to make a point. I feel that based on what you have been thru ….Your goal with your Brite Line tribe should be to set up donations for people who can’t afford your boot camp. People with food addictions like you and me and others . Don’t lose track of your book , Brite Lines , and branch off to other high paying advertising agents and money making sceams or water for other countries. You as well as anybody should know how obesity and binge eating effects many many People young and old. We all donate on our own to causes close to our hearts. Stay real Susan. Keep this about Brite Lines eating until your next book. Nice to hear prior to the New Year that you finally talked about your children. Love your book ! Lost 62 pounds after I read your book May 2017

Thank you for being authentic! Thank you for modeling vulnerability. Thank you for sharing your journey…no matter how good, or mucked up! There are those of us that could not be a part of a 12 step for various reasons (like geography, transportation no healthy local groups etc.) but we can be a part of BLE. You have a special mix of scientific knowledge and social media that opens this gift to people around the globe. Even though it has been a difficult “birthing” process for this, it is a movement that you cannot see hiw it will reach and transform millions in time. It is a baby now. You are figuring it out, and I thank you for all of it.! Glad you understand balance better now. We are all on a journey trying to figure it out. 💕😘

Hi Susan – thank you so much for this Vlog. I really empathize with your feelings about starting your new venture. It’s BIG. And it has none of the familiar pieces that give you security. Tenure, a regular paycheck, your office and all it entails in familiar and helpful tools, live students, a social network of other professors, somewhere to be and go to every day etc etc – the list goes on! So here you are doing something big and fantastic and helping SO many more people than you were able to with your other job – it must feel amazing and terrifying all at one time. It’s so big and you have none of the familiar support you are used to. It’s no wonder that you succumbed after working so hard and so long alone. Honestly I think it’s absolutely amazing what you have created and can hardly believe the energy and effort it must take. I am only surprised you didn’t falter sooner. It takes so much energy to do something this big and even the smallest upsets can cause a meltdown. A person can only be brave and on top of it and alone for so long. ( I know you know all of this – I’m not sure why I feel compelled to share this! – except to say I get it)

I have been feeling this way since I started my business – many years ago – – without really realizing it until listening to your vlog. I I now can see why I feel so stuck and depressed and overweight – and why food is my only comfort. I am just thinking of beginning Bright Line Eating and am afraid I won’t have it in me to do that one more thing. Like anything beyond just coping with day to day stuff is just too much. Keep it simple is great advice. Thank you for sharing your vulnerability………